We’ve all been to the bowling alley before, but what few of us consider with every strike, spare, or gutter ball tossed is the hidden world of electron-mechanical ingenuity governing these events, restoring order from chaos, turn after turn. While some alleys have upgraded to newer equipment, others like the Queen Anne’s Bowling Center on Rt. 213 are still using the same machines that were designed half a century ago.
With the owner’s permission, we were given access to this world, which is inhabited most of the time by one man, Ben Cambier, a 23-year-old trouble-shooter mechanic. When the chaos machines succumb to chaos themselves, it is this guy’s job to fix them.
A natural storyteller in his own right, Ben speaks of his experiences working behind the lanes where he has learned the machine language, and also the tale of Earl, a long deceased trouble-shooter mechanic whose specter is thought to haunt the lanes.
Videography by Alex Evans
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